Of Healers and Hearteners
by Little Black Bat
Summary: Two sides of the same coin, or two complete opposites? Sasuke and Momoko haven't quite figured just what it is about the other, but they can read each others weaknesses easily. The gravitational pull will bring them together and change them forever.


Disclaimer: The OC and the story line are mine. Everyone else belongs to Kishi, who should really consider putting a little more love into his work.

Pairing: SasukexMomokoOC

I hope you guys like this. Its from a year ago so I did some editing. Personally, its some of my favorite works considering that I put more effort into than other things that I've written. Review please!

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><p>"Hey, isn't that that Uchiha kid?" Momoko whispered as she walked down the hallway.<p>

"Sasuke? Yeah, isn't he cute?" Tenten answered.

Momoko wrinkled her nose. "Isn't he on, like, every sports team in the school?"

"Not only that. He completely owns every sport. Captain of every team. He's won every championship, broken every record, and topped all his older brother's scores-he was popular too, well before he snapped and went all homicidal maniac." Tenten whispered back as they watched the dark haired male saunter through the masses of swooning teens without distraction.

"Those rumors are tr-"

"Hey, guys!" Naruto shout as he slung his arms around their shoulders.

"Hey, Naruto," Tenten greeted.

"You guys hanging out at Ichiraku's with us tonight?" he asked hopefully.

"Your treat?" The brown haired girl teased.

The blonde smirked. "Uchiha-teme's."

"Cool, I'm in."

"You guys know I'm not into that whole crowd thing-"

"Oh, come on, Moko-chan," Naruto whined.

"Yeah, live a little," Tenten complained with a nudge.

Momoko frowned. "I live as much as I need to."

"Seriously, you're not going to make me hang around this blonde loser all night, are you?" Tenten pouted.

Moko sighed. "Fine..."

"Who are you calling a loser, Tenten? We just won the championships!"

"Yeah, all thanks to Sasuke," she said as she shut her locker leaving the blonde to pout.

Momoko slung her bag over her shoulders, another sigh parting her lips.

"I'll see you later, Ten," she said walking out of the building to her car.

She watched as Naruto bolted out, harassing the ever-brooding Sasuke, probably asking him to pay for tonight's round of pizzas.

"Thanks, teme!" he shouted over his shoulder before running off to a group of girls.

She turned her attention back to Sasuke to find him staring at her. She slid into her car, disregarding him, and started it. The classical radio station came on immediately and she sped away from the school just as quickly.

Moko didn't have any friends out side of Tenten. Maybe you could count Naruto, and maybe you couldn't. He was and all around, a super friendly guy. His demeanor both unnerved her and made her feel steady. She found a lot of balance in her relationship with Tenten. She was a discreet gossip, friendly with Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. They usually found themselves taking a too-long bathroom breaks at the same time just to fill in the holes in each others stories and confirm the little details.

The exclusivity of their gossip kingdom kept them on the radar at Konoha as much as their respective club sports did. Ino was _the _cheerleader, second to none in her gymnastics and dance moves, not to mention Queen Bee of the social circuit. Sakura was both a brainiac and a babe running the school's newspaper and debate team, a star tennis player, and volleyball queen. And then there was Tenten, who was captain of the track team, fastest of both the girls and the guys, nationally ranked with scholarship opportunities all across the board. But she was modest, and for that, she was not on the high pedestal that her counterparts were on. After all, she was the discreet gossip. Ino and Sakura relied on her undercover advantage to keep things balanced and interesting. The same way they relied on her to get the dirt on Momoko when she first arrived at Konoha, three months into senior year.

Tenten was good at going undercover, but Momoko saw through the charade. That's how they became friends. A little honesty pact that required that they tell each other the big things and leave out all the rest. But Tenten was thrilled with have Momoko as a contemporary and in her presence, there were no dull moments.

Momoko sighed as she and Tenten walked into the crowded pizza bar.

"Oi!" Naruto and Kiba greeted, leaving the group of girls they were with to pout.

Momoko couldn't help but to laugh inwardly.

"Hello, boys," she greeted, grabbing a bottle of beer from Naruto's hand.

"I didn't know you were a drinker," Kiba smiled.

"I'm not," she smirked and took a long swig.

Tenten chuckled. "Hey, do you guys know where Neji is?"

Kiba's lips turned up in a half teasing sneer. "Still chasing that dog?"

"Look who's talking." She shot back.

She grabbed Moko's hand and began making rounds, asking for Neji occasionally. Moko hid behind her bottle avoiding conversation with anyone. When she got tired, she broke off from her friend, and exited through the back. She pulled out a cigarette and took a long drag.

"Should you be smoking?" a voice asked a few feet away from her. She turned, meeting Sasuke's onyx eyes. She was surprised to see him there, but that was all.

"No," she replied taking another deep drag.

"Hn." He looked away for a minute and turned his attention back to her as she slid down the wall and stubbed out her cigarette when it reached the half point. A few minutes later she pulled out a white tube holding to her mouth and inhaled.

"You're asthmatic," he stated blandly.

"Yeah," Moko nodding, taking another puff.

"You really shouldn't be smoking, baka."

"You must care dearly about my health, no?"

"I don't," he turned away, taking a sip of his Coke.

She stared at her empty bottle and looked at his drink. "Any rum in there?" she asked hopefully.

"No," Sasuke frowned. "Not only are you a huffer, you're also a drunk."

She was offended, but she didn't feel like getting worked up. "It's all therapeutic," Momoko replied flippantly.

She tugged her jacket closer to her as the wind picked up.

"Do your parents know you deliberately risk your life?"

'What's with the sudden interest?' she frowned inwardly.

"What parents?" she answered simply.

A silence fell over them for a moment.

"Do your parents know that you throw away your trust fund on beer and over priced pizza? For other people."

"My parents are dead." He said stiffly.

"_The rumor is true…_" She thought to herself.

"You're the girl from Suna High, aren't you?"

Momoko immediately went rigid. "Excuse me?"

"You are." He confirmed.

"H-how would you even know that?" she stammered. As far as she knew, she transferred to Konoha High on a clean slate, and all her matters were discreetly brushed under the rug. There was no way-_ absolutely no way, _anyone here could have found out about that.

"I've seen the pictures," he responded blankly.

Momoko choked on spit. "You _saw_ them?" She felt fear numbing out her fingertips. The last thing she wanted was another scandal. "How?"

"Technology works fast."

"Do you know if anyone else has seen them?"

Sasuke examined her, her voice was tentative and her eyes were wide. He almost felt bad for her. "Naruto was the only one I know of who got them, and I deleted them before he even knew he had them."

"Thank God," she muttered to herself. The last thing she needed was another scandal. How it took her less than a year to screw up everything, she had yet to figure out.

"That's why you left?"

"Pardon?"

"You send your little boyfriend nude photos and they suddenly pop up all over the school, so you left because you couldn't take the heat."

Her face heated up in a mixture of emotions. She was angry because he belittled her, and embarrassed because he was right. "Who are you to judge me?" Momoko shouted, standing to her feet. Her head felt a bit vacant, but her anger swelled deeper than the alcohol had managed to. "Don't you dare insult me like that!"

His onyx eyes met her dark green ones head on. "I'm only stating the truth."

"You're belittling me! You're talking like it was my fault!"

"You set yourself up for it-" she opened her mouth to retaliate, but he kept speaking. "Did you think a little pervert like, Sabaku _Kankuro _could keep those photos to himself?" She physically recoiled from that. "You should have known to keep your bra on."

The sanity in her snapped at that one. "How could I have known that everyone I knew would think of me as some type of whore in less than a goddamn hour?" She wasn't asking just him. She was asking herself.

"Keep your voice down, or someone will hear you?"

At that moment a couple burst out the door and passed them quickly. With the guy's hand in her pants it was all too evident what was about to happen.

She bit her tongue. "Don't you know aq thing or two about betrayal, Sasuke?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "How do you know-"

"Oh, please! There's no such thing a s a secret in this world! And some people keep way too many tabs on you!"

As much as he may have wanted to conceal it, he was livid.

"So tell me, did you see it coming? Did you know that you'd be walking into a _blood bath_ that night?"

"Shut your mouth," he barked.

She'd hit a nerve on that one.

"Why? Can't take the heat? I'm only stating the truth," she mocked. "My situation may not have been as dire as yours, Uchiha, but don't pretend you don't know that you can't sense betrayal until it smacks you in the face like a goddamn truck!"

His glare intensified and his eyes were startlingly bright for someone with black eyes. "Be _quiet_, Momoko."

She backed down, realizing that she was stepping on dangerous territory, overstepping her boundaries. She couldn't take her anger ut on anyone but herself, because he was right. It really was her own fault. She also took his uncharacteristic anger as a win. After a moment of tense silence, she rolled her eyes. "Let me know whenever you're ready to be real with yourself, Uchiha." With that she turned into the restaurant, leaving him alone outside.

She immediately spotted Tenten nibbling on a slice of pizza in a small nook with a somewhat pleased looking Neji. She fired off a good night text, gone before Tenten could spot her. She was almost certain that her freind would have a place to crash tonight.

Momoko dived between the cool white sheets on her bed, knees tucked against her body Across the room, a little jewelry box was open playing a song that both tore at her wounds and healed them. The song was classical, her preferred choice of sound. It was the most beautiful genre in the world, and it had a way of grounding her. Reminding herself of this, she could feel the heat of her blood cooling down, and the anxiety fading.

She snuck her hands under her pillow feeling for the familiar coldness of metal. She traced it over and over until she was asleep, dreaming of the past.


End file.
